


5 Times Tony Falls Asleep On Steve And The One Time Steve Falls Asleep On Tony

by misbehavingvigilante



Series: Tales Inspired by the Discord Year 1 [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5 Times, M/M, Pining Steve Rogers, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 17:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20100706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbehavingvigilante/pseuds/misbehavingvigilante
Summary: Tony slums against him in the back of a discreet SHIELD car taking them to the aforementioned organization. At first, Steve thinks Tony is just trying to push his buttons but then the cadence of Tony’s breath is soft and sleep-like and then it clicks.Tony fell asleep against him.





	5 Times Tony Falls Asleep On Steve And The One Time Steve Falls Asleep On Tony

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My_Soul_and_Perfume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Soul_and_Perfume/gifts).
  * Inspired by [If Only, If Only](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6371872) by [coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster/pseuds/coaster). 

> So Perf had the original idea and there were a few fics like this, I took some light inspiration from Coaster's fic so while that's from the 616 and this is MCU, I still listed it as a inspiration since that's the one I read. 
> 
> I don't think I missed any tags/warnings but let me know if I did. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy~!

The first time it happens, they aren’t really friends.

Teammates, yes, but not friends. Their initial misunderstanding has been more or less fixed by now, but Steve can’t really say he thinks of Tony as a friend. A good man, yes, he’s clearly a good man for being willingly to lay down his life, and Steve is eternally grateful he didn’t have to lose anyone else. He had already lost enough people so the idea that he would lose another, after so fundamentally misunderstanding Tony was a loss that Steve was glad he didn’t have to bear.

Or the world for that matter, Tony had a lot to offer to the world, the idea of his light being dimmed far too soon would be a loss felt by many aside from just Steve.

That said, it doesn’t mean they get along.

Tony grates on him, and it just seems like they’re constantly getting on one the wrong foot like it’s a dance and Steve keeps stepping on Tony’s foot, and Tony keeps trying to lure Steve into fancy footwork that he has no way of following. Ultimately, they seem committed to misunderstanding each other.

It’s a little sad all things considered, but even before the ice, there was people in Steve’s unit that he just could not click with regardless of what he did, perhaps he and Tony are just like that.

As long as they can stay cordial as teammates, he supposes it doesn’t really matter.

Of course, naturally it’s after Steve has the thought, that it happens. Tony slums against him in the back of a discreet SHIELD car taking them to the aforementioned organization. At first, Steve thinks Tony is just trying to push his buttons but then the cadence of Tony’s breath is soft and sleep-like and then it clicks.

Tony fell asleep against him.

It was likely just post-battle exhaustion because Tony had fought well, zipping in and out of the air with a graceful flair that spoke of how much time Tony spent in Iron Man Armor. Steve couldn’t fault him for the exhaustion, or even the resulting contact thereafter.

It was going to be a short trip all things considered, but Steve supposed he could keep still for a few minutes and let Tony sleep. It was just practical, really, Tony didn’t sleep enough as it is, so Steve would put up with it.

~

The second time it happens, it’s still as much of a surprise because Steve hadn’t entirely expected a repeat. Tony had been bleary and somewhat in a daze after the first time but had seem cognizant enough to have realized what happened even if Steve hadn’t said anything.

Steve thinks maybe he wouldn’t been in this situation, if he had just explained, but it’s far too late for that now. It’s not after a battle this time, but rather during one of their impromptu movie nights. There really isn’t much of a seating arrangement though everyone has their favorite to choose from, so some pairings are more expected.

Bruce and Tony like to sit next each other, they often babble about the science in the movies picking it apart, Tony with much more glee than Bruce who is more reluctantly along for the ride. That is if Bruce isn’t taking one of the chairs in the living room to himself when he’s had not such a great day that he can’t be that close to people, but at the same time doesn’t want to be entirely alone. Thor also has a preference for stealing one of the chairs but always gives it if anyone else truly wants it. Clint and Nat like to sit near each other, clearly comfortable with one another with how they crawl and stretch into each other’s space. If Natasha isn’t with Clint, then she’s usually right beside Steve enjoying using him as a nice wall between her and the others who can get rowdy during movie night since Steve usually doesn’t get loud or move a lot during the movies.

Tonight Tony had one of the corner seats while Steve sat beside him. Thor was also on the couch having more room to himself than normal thanks to the fact Clint and Nat were sharing one chair and Bruce had the other.

Steve still had a habit of taking less space up than usually thanks to being small most of his life so had ended up a little closer to Tony than probably should have been but had wanted to give Thor the room to spread out clearly more used than him with his size.

So in theory, some of this may have been Steve’s fault for accidentally being closer to Tony than normal, but still, there Tony is slummed against him once more.

Steve wonders if this has happened to anyone else in the team or if it’s only him.

But he can’t think of a reason why that might be. Still, the others clearly recognize Tony’s sleeping form, and it’s one of the quietest movie nights to date as no one really wants to wake Tony up.

That in itself has to mean something since the team isn’t intentionally trying to set up any ploy when Tony awakes into tricking him. Or maybe it’s just because Steve is here and they see what a bad idea it might be to try and hide the truth from someone who wakes up and doesn’t know what’s going on.

Still, if they can get along when Tony is sleeping at least, then they can probably get along when Tony is conscious, right?

~

The third time it happens, Steve expects it.

If anything, he’s kind of planning that it turns out that way because Tony hasn’t slept in quite some time and seems resent to bluntly told to go to bed. Steve had learnt that the hard way after Tony just flipped him off and told Jarvis to lock him out of the workshop. The AI had respected Tony’s wishes even if Steve was pretty much he wasn’t imagining a slightly annoyed note in Jarvis’ voice, either.

Clearly Jarvis has had vested interest in keeping Tony well too and Steve could respect that.

Like any good tactician, he knows when he could call upon an ally and help use them to complete a successful mission.

“Do you mind if we turn down the AC?” Steve asks Tony, drawing just anything that comes to mind as he’s on the couch in Tony’s workshop. One of the best ways Steve found for him and Tony to spend some time together without yelling was just being with each other without saying anything but it being just the two of them. So Steve had coming down to Tony’s workshop once or twice a week recently to just draw in ambience of Tony’s lab stating, it just helped inspired him and Tony shrugged it off and accepted it like that.

“Are you sure about that?” Tony seems wary of lower temperatures not for his own, but rather Steve’s sake. Steve is a little touched about that, he wasn’t sure if he had expected Tony to care. It’s a horrible thought to have still really when it’s clear Tony isn’t nearly as self-centered as he leads other to believe so Steve is kind of disappointed in himself for thinking it at all.

But he doesn’t dwell on that, “Yes, it’s fine. Thank you, Tony.”

“…you’re welcome?” Tony clearly hadn’t expected to be thanked for it, and seems thrown off. “J, lower the AC a bit?”

“As you wish, sir.”

“Thanks, J.” Tony mutters to himself, and quickly gets back to work on whatever he’s working on. Steve isn’t sure, he makes a point to ask next time, but he doesn’t quite want to start up a conversation right now, as it’d only wind Tony up.

It takes about twenty minutes later for Tony to yawn once, and then stretch his arm and move his back a little in an attempt to rouse the sleepiness from his body. It doesn’t work because not ten minutes later, Tony yawns again.

“Do you want to rest your eyes for a minute?” Steve offers.

“Yeah, maybe. Not getting much work down, might just need a quick mental defrag.” Tony doesn’t ask Steve to move over, but does join him on the couch laying his head in his lap and propping his feet up on the couch’s other arm.

Steve chuckles, “Comfy?”

“Yes, actually. It’ll only be a minute, you can tolerate me that long.”

Steve bites back a response because he’s so close to telling Tony he does more than just tolerate him, that he actually likes Tony, but he must be failing somewhere if Tony still thinks that’s the extent of their relationship. Thankfully his plan work and Tony is blissfully asleep on his lap now.

Steve doesn’t peek down onto his lap to see Tony’s sleeping face, because he’s already recognizing himself having drawn the man on his sketchbook without him noticing it.

It’s just him drawing Tony in his natural element, there’s nothing strange about that.

There is something strange about him focusing in on Tony so much that he had absentmindedly ended up drawing the man, though.

~

The fourth time it happens is thankfully after he’s set the record to Tony about how he feels about him as a teammate and how he considers Tony a friend, and he hopes Tony consider him one as well. Everything as that, well, it’s not perfect, they still argue, but they’re not mixing like oil and water anymore.

Tony slums against him in the armor, and the weight and edges of the metal aren’t quite that comfortable but it’s a good thing it’s him because he can tolerate how heavy Tony is even in the Iron Man armor. It seems like something out of one of those romantic movies that Thor liked to watch, the love interest falling forward into the hero’s arms.

Of course, considering its post battle, Steve is a lot more concerned about there being a reason that Tony is passed out. Like blood or a concussion, and he’s sure his blood pressure spike in tandem of him trying to remember what override Tony had gifted him in case of an emergency.

“Sir is just sleeping. I shall mute the comms as not to disturb his rest.” Jarvis’ cool voice come through his comms, and Steve isn’t sure if his alone or not since he can feel other members of the team glancing over at him. Whether it’s out of concern for Tony, or just out of the oddity of the position, Steve isn’t sure.

“Oh, okay…” Steve replies, breathlessly, and his heart settles down. It’s never fun when a teammate was injured, but that seems like a mild overreaction on his part. Maybe he isn’t sleeping enough, or maybe his blood sugar was low and making him extra emotional.

“So uh, are you going to bridal carry him home?” Clint snickers loudly over the comms and Steve picks him out from his high perch with a glare. “Oh, come on. Unless you want Thor to do it?”

“I would be more than glad to do so!” Thor responds loudly, and while it is a helpful suggestion. It’s one that settles uneasily in his gut, he is tired after that last battle, it would be easiest to at least let Thor handle it since Bruce has already returning back to normal after the Hulk’s appearance, so there really isn’t anyone else other than them to consider.

Still, he doesn’t want to, and Steve follows his gut. “No, I’ve got him.”

~

The fifth time it happens is when things shift between them for good. His fear from the last time comes true as Iron Man gets clipped in the head by the remnants of their diminishing enemies. Steve is already running towards Tony and throwing his shield to isolate Tony from anymore approaching enemies. He slides against split pavement to catch Tony before he hits the ground, already on his way to ignoring how the fabric falls apart after a long battle and how his leg is rubbed open and oozing blood to the surface as debris finds it ways into the wounds.

His only thought is Tony, his only concern is Tony and everything else fades away.

He trusts his team to have their backs, they’re no longer the ragtag team they were when New York was attacked, they’re a well-oiled machine now, knowing each other’s tells and plays and knowing exactly where to pick up the slack when something goes to hell.

Steve rips off the face plate and tries not think to about how much that also reminds him of the battle for New York.

“Is he breathing?” Thor says before he even hits the ground, clearly concerned too for the fate of his fellow avenger. Steve tries not to panic because this is repeating eerily similar to how things were before but there’s no hulk roar to waken Tony since even the Hulk has been completely exhausted by the fight and Bruce is back in control already.

Steve doesn’t have to angle his ear to Tony’s chest this time he has the other man in his arms that he can hear the tell-tale signs of breathing and see that the arc reactor is still on, even if it’s dimmer than it has any right to be.

“Tony, wake up.” Steve pleads, he isn’t sure what he’ll do if he doesn’t.

“It’s probably just a concussion.” Bruce says, shuffling over to them at a hurried pace, but still keeping his voice calm. “It’s only been a few seconds, not great, but not that bad, either.”

As if on cue, Tony stirs awake in his arms. Flailing at a bit at being held but Steve doesn’t let him go not because he’s afraid Tony might hurt himself, but he needs the reassurance that Tony brings by staying close to him. “Did anyone kiss me?” He slurs.

“Yeah, not great as well.” Bruce sighs. “He needs a hospital.”

“No hospital.” Tony tries, it’s less slurred this time but it’s still definitely not normal.

“Hospital.” Steve agrees.

To the absolute surprise of no one, Tony does indeed have a concussion. The Iron Man armor took the brunt of it something Steve had been quietly expressing gratitude over and over again in his head so it’s nowhere near as serious as it could be. However, it does mean Tony is off the team for a while to recover and actually has to take it easy rather than immediately assuming it just means he gets to spend all his time on the workshop.

Steve is a patient person, usually but Tony is getting on his last nerves when he had to chase Tony out of his lab again.

“What part of concussion do you not understand?” Steve says, rubbing his temples.

Tony starts, “Well-”

“That was rhetorical.”

“But-“

“Tony, no.”

Tony rolls his eyes, huffing under his breath clearly unpleased at being corralled but at least gets distracted by leftovers Clint had left him on the kitchen island.

Natasha enters the room, not that Steve thinks Tony sees her and waves him over.

“Yes?” Steve keeps his voice quiet since there’s probably some reason Natasha is acting like this. Perhaps they’re assembling again, and someone has to stay behind and make sure Tony doesn’t try to get into the armor again.

“Just kiss him.”

“I-what?” Surely, Steve couldn’t have heard that right?

“Kiss him.” Natasha repeats. “I promise you, he will be a lot more amendable to your suggestions if you reward him with kisses for his good behavior.”

“He has a concussion.” Steve reminds.

“Then remind him after the concussion is gone that you still like him. Stop pining and pucker up, Rogers.”

Natasha doesn’t accept no for an answer and pushes him back towards Tony and then disappears out of the room like she was never in the room to begin with. Tony turns to him from one of the swivel seats in the kitchen. “Steve? You’re walking funny there and I’m the one who supposedly has the concussion.”

Steve should argue that Tony very much has a concussion but instead, he follows through with what Natasha says and simply kisses Tony one he’s in reach.

Tony makes a squawking noise and Steve immediately pulls back.

“I’m so-“

“Is this real?” Tony asks suddenly seriously and looks up something desperate in his eyes. “Am I hallucinating? Jarvis, did Steve Rogers just kiss me?”

“He did indeed, sir.”

“You’re not fucking with me?”

“I wouldn’t do that to a concussed you.” Jarvis remarks drolly.

“Concussed, wait, does that mean you do it to me when-“ Tony suddenly remembers Steve is in front of him and blinks. “So uh… that happened.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes, yes, it’s okay, confusing but okay. I’m going to need you to remind me this is real for a while, though. I’m still pretty sure I’m hallucinating.”

“It’s real, I promise.”

~

Tony is more than a little tempted to wake Steve up and ask him if this is still real. His reasoning is sound as a sleep deprived Steve Rogers would not be as equipped to deal with this charade as a fully well rested Steve. But then, Tony doesn’t actually want to be that asshole.

But then again, who confesses during a concussion? It had been minor, and had more or less went ahead on it’s own after two weeks or so but the kiss, and the resulting had been ill-timed in Tony’s opinion. He shouldn’t complain too much as Steve confessing meant that Tony hadn’t had to take on that task himself because he was more or less willingly accept his fate to quietly pine after Steve the rest of his life.

Steve just had to take the initiative and ruin his plan.

Not that it was a plan Tony was really all that attached to, it was the principal of the thing! But Steve had been so doting since then, afraid of Tony getting injured again that really the man hadn’t been taking caring of himself enough. Super serum or no, even Steve had limits.

Tony wasn’t going to ruin his sleep just because he was insecure about their relationship.

Not that Tony was exceptionally good at laying still however, he fidgeted fairly often outside of business meetings where it was a trained response not to do that or else it could be perceived as untrustworthy or weakness. He made a valiant attempt, but eventually Steve stirred from the workshop couch.

“Mm, Tony?”

“Yeah?” Tony asks, suddenly interested a lot in the schematics he was doing on his tablet.

“It’s still real.” Steve says as he turned to kiss him.

And well, Tony had to admit, Steve presented a rather compelling case.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna chat, I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thiefoftruth26).


End file.
